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Rainbow Division: 'Rough and ready' to defend

One hundred years ago on Monday, Col. William Screws and his men of the 167th Infantry Regiment or the 42nd Rainbow Division, boarded eight of those trains to fight after the United States entered WWI in April.

Jo McGowin and John Screws were just children when they scurried through their backyard and weaved through the hedges that separated their home's property from their grandfather's, Army retired Col. William "Billy" P. Screws.

McGowin, now 79, and her young brother, John, 73, sat in McGowin's white historic home in Cloverdale not far from where they grew up and they recalled memories of their grandfather and his influential role in the area's military during World War I.

Col. Screws grew up in Montgomery and graduated from Marion Military Institute and grew to be a "highly acclaimed" regular army officer before he organized and trained the Alabama regiment to fight in WWI.

"They were a part of the 'good ol' boys,'" Screws said. "They were rough and ready and probably hadn't been outside the county in their whole life.

"Our grandfather was recruited to come back to Alabama to command the regiment. He wasn't a West Point man, but he was a real leader of men and they fought like heroes in World War I."

One hundred years ago on Monday, Col. Screws and his men of the 167th Infantry Regiment or the 42nd Rainbow Division, boarded eight trains near the Montgomery riverfront where the historic train shed still stands. They were off to fight the Germans.

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A portrait of Col. William P. Screws lays on a shelf among other family portraits in Jo McGowin's house.(Photo: Rebecca Burylo/ Advertiser)

A ceremony will unveil and dedicate a 10-foot tall bronze statue to the city honoring the story of the Rainbow Soldiers and will mark exactly 100 years since 3,677 guardsmen were selected to fight in German-occupied Europe.

The Screws family have been a part of the fabric of Montgomery for generations.

Col. Screws grew up in Montgomery and after the war lived near his grandchildren on Fairview Avenue where the trains could be seen rumbling by.

"We lived right behind him and he was a part of my everyday life," said McGowin,

McGowin, who was a senior at Lanier when Col. Screws died in 1955 at 80 years old, was named after Col. Screws' wife, her grandmother. The colonel doted on her every time he could, she said.

"If I couldn't get my mother or father to buy me something all I had to do was go to him and he get it for me," McGowin said. "If you wanted it, he made sure you got it. He thought money was mean to be spent."

Col. Screws fought in the Spanish-American War defending the Philippine Islands before he was called to command the men of the 4th Alabama National Guard. The guardsmen were selected with three other units who were federalized to become the famous 167th Infantry Regiment.

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Col. William P. Screws(Photo: Rebecca Burylo/ Advertiser)

Col. Screws was well respected among his men.

One of those soldiers who had his respect was William Frazer, whose son, Nimrod "Rod" Frazer is the organizer of the ceremony and will be donating the bronze statue to the city.

Known for its rainbow-colored patch during World War I, the 167th or the 42nd Rainbow Division, is a story Frazer, who is also an author and historian, hopes will continue to live on.

"Douglas MacArthur, a major then, cherry-picked the best national guard units from coast to coast and put four regiments together from 26 states like a rainbow," Frazer said.

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The Rainbow Soldier statue in front of Union Station in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday August 23, 2017. (Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)

"The statue is a way to honor my father and those brave Alabamians."

The donated bronze is one way to help preserve that history and remember the 616 soldiers who died.

Frazer commissioned the famous British artist James Bulter to create the statue that depicts two men. A man in WWI military garb wearing a hat that covers his face looks down at a dead soldier in his arms.

Butler created the initial bronze statue of the one downtown that stands in a battlefield in France where 168 Alabamians of the Rainbow Division lost their lives, Frazer said.

It stands on the site of the battle of Croix Rouge Farm on July 26, 1918 — the second deadliest battle in history involving Alabamians. It is second only to the Battle of Gettysburg.

Frazer will join city leaders and several units from the Alabama National Guard and French representatives on Monday at the Montgomery unveiling.

Want to Go?

What: Centennial Commemoration of the Departure of the 167th Alabama Regiment (Rainbow Division) to France
When: 5 p.m. on August 28

Where: 210 Water St.

Other Centennial Celebrations

The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts has displayed hrough Sept. 10 the sketches, letters and personal items of one of Montgomery's first military pilots who sketched his World War I experiences in France. Penrose Vass Stout, fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive for the First Pursuit Group, 27th Aero Squadron.